There’s no better way to spend holidays than gathering with your friends and family around an exciting new board game on your table. Our guide will provide you with the 10 best board games of 2023, including their main features and basic rules.
Top 10 Best Board Games List for 2023
Here’s a quick breakdown of our list of the 10 best board games of 2023:
- Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right
- Betrayal at House on the Hill: Third Edition
- Wingspan
- Team3 Pink/Green
- Unmatched
- Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest
- Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
- Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition
- Descent: Legends of the Dark
- The Quacks of Quedlinburg
Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right
If you like asymmetrical board games with multiple factions, then you’ll love the Root board game. It’s designed for 2-4 players who need to take on the roles of various factions in the Woodland world, where each faction has its own set of goals to achieve. That’s one of the reasons why this game got so much attention this year! All because of its strategic depth and unique approach to decision-making.
The main objective of the game is to take control of other faction areas via card play and interaction between players. Because each faction has its own victory condition, it adds another dimension to problem-solving your own faction’s weaknesses, as well as trying to disrupt other factions from gaining an advantage.
Betrayal at House on the Hill: Third Edition
The Betrayal at House on the Hill board game has a long history that started way back in 2004. Due to its immense popularity, Hasbro released a third edition this year, which made the game even better. For those who are new to this game, Betrayal at House on the Hill is a horror-themed board game that can be played starting at the age of 12.
It’s designed for 3-6 players who take on different roles and explore a haunted house on the hill. While you move through various parts of the house, you get to experience different events via card play. I recommend this game to anyone who wants a board game full of surprises, as the game plan is extremely unpredictable, with about 50 unique scenarios.
Wingspan
Here’s one of the most unusual but highly engaging board games of the year. Wingspan is a bird-themed board game that’s designed for 1-5 players who need to take care of a wide variety of birds and their habitats.
The layout of the board is represented by the four seasons and different biomes, where you can apply various strategies according to all the birds’ needs. Players can use various abilities via card play that offer lots of info on the birds themselves. This makes the Wingspan board game not only highly entertaining but also educational.
Team3 Pink/Green
If you’re looking for a quick-paced board game that is both engaging and makes your brain work, then be sure to check out Team3 Pink/Green. This board game is designed for 3-6 players, who must collaborate to finish building blueprints. The game includes three roles represented by monkey cards, where each monkey has its own set of abilities. Team3 Pink/Green is a perfect party game for a group of friends who want to have lots of fun with laughs and thrills.
Unmatched
Team battle board games have a tendency to go on for far too long, but the Unmatched board game hasn’t got a single dull moment in it. The game involves famous characters, such as comic book superheroes and popular historical figures. This makes all the matchups really unique and exciting, where each character has its own deck of cards that represent their special abilities.
Restoration Games regularly releases new expansion packs for the Unmatched board game, so you’ll always have a fresh supply of heroes to battle against. For example, the latest roster of superheroes includes Hulk and Spider-Man.
Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest
If you’re not a fan of terribly complicated board games, but are still looking for a light and entertaining strategy board game, then I can’t think of anything better than Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest. Here, you take on the roles of pirates who complete various challenges to get as much loot as possible. Although the game is designed for 1-6 players, it plays much better if at least four players are involved in the process.
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
There’s no better way to spend a rainy holiday than searching for clues in the vein of Sherlock Holmes adventures. This board game opens up an old London City to all players who are eager to embark on a journey that involves gathering information, following leads, and making deductions that may eventually lead you to the final solution.
What I like the most about the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective board game is that you can play it both as a cooperative game and a competitive one, trying to find the solution faster than the other team. This adds a whole new layer of challenge to an already complex gameplay, which will make you squirm with excitement.
Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition
Fans of science fiction will have a blast playing Twilight Imperium, a popular board game that’s been going on for over 25 years. The newest Fourth Edition involves 17 space factions that try to overtake each other on the board, which consists of 51 galaxies.
Twilight Imperium involves all the classical tropes of complex space game board strategies, including diplomacy, trading, technologies, and, of course, space battles of epic proportions. But I must warn you that the game is so complicated and multi-faceted that it may last for a few hours and, at times, may even reach up to eight hours in a single gameplay session.
Descent: Legends of the Dark
Not all dungeon crawlers need to be terribly difficult or long, as proven by Descent: Legends of the Dark, one of the best fantasy board games of 2023. You can play it as a solo player or invite up to four friends who will take you through the darkest dungeons of the Terrinoth world.
On top of that, this board game comes with its own mobile app that allows you to track your progress and show all the available crafting options at any given moment of your gameplay session. Note that Descent: Legends of the Dark is a premium board game with lots of figurines and an intricately designed board that will surely impress even the most experienced board game enthusiasts.
The Quacks of Quedlinburg
Imagine a board game that revolves around crafting and nothing else. But the crafting process is so enticing that you wouldn’t want to do anything else anyway. The Quacks of Quedlinburg is a board game that puts four players in the roles of master brewers who need to create the most effective potions using a massive library of ingredients and recipes. But you ought to be careful, as the wrong combination may end up in an explosion, which will immediately throw you out of the game.
That’s it for our list of the 10 best board games of 2023. Stay tuned for more board game reviews and top lists right here at GameSkinny.
